As our society gets busier, it’s been increasingly important to automate several aspects of our lives. One of the first areas to be automated was the payment of monthly bills and for many, this is an essential system that helps them avoid late payments. However, there are a few dangers that are associated with auto bill pay programs that should be discussed. By keeping these points in mind, you can use auto bill pay options to your advantage, without having to worry about additional problems.
Auto Bill Payment Programs - are they for you?
The first major concern is a lack of funds. If you don’t have a reliable income that is always deposited on time, you can end up with late bills, angry creditors and a real problem on your hand. If you are using a checking account for your auto bill pay, it is vital to make a note of when your payments are due and then take the necessary steps to ensure that you will have more than enough to take care of the bills that you owe for that month. This is also a problem for those using a credit card, especially if they get too close to their limit.
Next up, there is a big concern over hidden fees and charges that you may not catch. If you don’t get paper bills, or if you don’t take the time to read your electronic statement, you may end up paying too much and you’ll never be the wiser. The best example in this case would be a phone bill that does not have a set amount for long distance. This can fluctuate from month to month and if you’re not paying attention, you can easily end up with a bill that is three times the norm or more, and you’ll have to come up with the difference to make sure your other bills are paid.
Other companies may tack on extra fees, or you may be charged for each transaction. Always take the time to read the fine print before getting involved with auto bill pay systems and make sure that you are completely aware of what you’ll end up paying every month by keeping tabs on your statement.
The last major problem facing users of auto bill pay programs is security. It is vital to go with a program that provides top notch security and data protection. You don’t need that payment information being broadcast across the net, and all too often, this can happen. Hackers are an issue, especially now that so much sensitive information is available. If you are not sure about the level of security for the auto bill payment service that you are using, it is best to find a service that you can trust.
Auto bill pay can be incredibly helpful, but as with most things in life, there is a downside. However, by keeping these points in mind and by staying diligent on reading your statements, you can make it work for you.
Photo Credits: 1
Originally posted 2008-10-29 06:55:32. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Related Articles -
3 Ways to Increase Your Cash Flow If you’re finding it difficult to get by, one of the easiest ways to combat this issue is by increasing your monthly cash flow. While you may not be able to make a huge difference right away, slowly building up the amount of money that you have coming in, building...... -
Online Finance Magazines /caption] There are numerous different reasons to take the time to read online finance magazines. By buying and reading online finance magazines, you can learn a great deal about financing in a small amount of time. By buying and reading online finance magazines you will be infinitely better able to...... -
Defining Your Budget and Crafting Your Financial Future A budget or spending plan is a specific money management tool that is designed to put you in control of your spending, keeping you out of credit trouble and other financial trouble. Your budget is vital because it is your personal plan for spending the income that you have, making...... -
Setting Goals for Good Personal Finance /caption] Setting goals is an important part of your personal finance plan. Goals can be divided into four unique categories that are relatively general in nature. These categories are short term goals, intermediate term goals, long term goals and life goals. Short Term Personal Finance Goals - These short term...... -
Online Finance Magazines [/caption] Most people intentionally bypass the bay of finance magazines in the grocer or their local newsstand, believing that there is nothing in those magazines that will help them gain a better understanding of their money, the state of the economy, or anything else relating to finances for that matter.......
Related Sites -
What You May Not Know About Personal Finance Unless you’ve taken some courses on handling finances, there is a chance that you may not be aware of a few of the key points about budgeting, managing your money and planning for the future. While a lot rests on common sense, there are a few techniques that everyone can...... -
Joint Banking, Budgets, and Savings Joint budgeting has been a topic for the past few weeks on some personal finances sites. Several bloggers have been posting their financial maps. Personal Finance Hour had a great show on couples and finances with Jim and J.D sharing their differing opinions on how they handle their family's finances....... -
50+ Personal Finance, Investing, And Money Tweeps Worth Following Miranda writes for Bankling, a personal finance portal, which contains both a blog, and a tools section that contains resources like the best bank CD rates, the best savings account rates, online mortgage rate calculators, and more. These days, it's all about Twitter and the tweeple there. While many (including...... -
Five Ways Fantasy Baseball is Like Personal Finance I had my draft for my fantasy baseball league I'm in earlier this week. I've been in the league with these particular guys now for over five years. It's not a money league but we're real competitive nonetheless. I gotta say I'm real excited! Not only is real baseball starting...... -
Stop Chasing High Interest Savings Rates with a Rewards Checking Account If you're the type to chase high interest savings rates, the first quarter of 2009 has kept you busy. Nearly all of the major internet banks have slashed their savings account interest rates on a near biweekly basis. Being somewhat of a rate chaser myself, I noticed all three of my older savings accounts have......
Tags: auto bill pay, auto bill pay programs, bill pay, checking account, credit card, creditors, data protection, electronic statement, extra fees, hidden fees, late payments, long distance, necessary steps, norm, paper bills, paying attention, security, tabs, three times, transaction charges
I think one of the biggest concerns with auto-paid bills is that you forget you are paying them. Especially with non-essentials. Nexflix, for example. If you have payments for things like these coming out of your account on auto-pay you might not realize how much they actually add up to.
Good point Tom… We agree.